This article follows on from an earlier article: Resumes for the Skilled and Experienced Worker Like many things in life and business, interviews are all about the preparation. Never go into an interview unprepared! You’ll put yourself behind the eight ball from the word go and dramatically reduce your chances of success. Not to mention the stress levels you’ll experience through the whole process. So how to best prepare to maximise your chances of success at interview?This article follows on from an earlier article: Resumes for the Skilled and Experienced Worker

Like many things in life and business, interviews are all about the preparation.  Never go into an interview unprepared! You’ll put yourself behind the eight ball from the word go and dramatically reduce your chances of success.  Not to mention the stress levels you’ll experience through the whole process.

So how to best prepare to maximise your chances of success at interview?  The 2 key steps are to research the company before you go to the interview and take notes into the interview with you.

Research the Company

If you’ve applied for a job with a company you don’t already know, then do your homework and find out about them before you go to the interview.  In this day and age, with the easy access to information with the internet, there is no excuse for attending an interview not knowing anything about them.  Check out their website and find out:

  • What business they are in?
  • Who is the boss and the management team?
  • Where they are located (not just your prospective location)?
  • What is their vision and mission?
  • What is their culture?

Hopefully you already know all this and this is why you are applying for a job with them.

What if they are small to medium sized and don’t have a website or it is too basic to give you much information?  This is where you need to go “old fashioned” and call them up and ask for information about the company.  Drop into their office, have a look and ask for information about the company.  Or ask people in the same industry about the company – their competition will know lots about them and can be very helpful.

And part of your research should include access for interview – where to park if you drive there, what traffic conditions might effect you – so you can avoid being late or can you take a train or a bus?

Once you know about them and their operation, think about what you would like to know about them or the job conditions that you can’t get from outsiders, but will be important for you in the job, and prepare your questions before you go.

When we are in stressful situations – as interviews are to most people – we get nervous and forgetful so having the questions written down as a prompt will ensure you don’t forget them when asked.

Importantly, if you haven’t been advised by the recruitment consultant or company executive you are dealing with, make sure you find out how many people will be in the interview!  There is nothing more unsettling for you to arrive, expecting to ‘chat’ with one company executive and be confronted with a panel interview of 2 to 6 people!

Take Notes to the Interview

Ok so we’ve established that nerves are our greatest enemy at interview and that our memory will be tested by that, so taking notes as prompters is the best way to beat the interview nerves.

First you take the notes you’ve made about the company, from the research you’ve done.  So when the interviewer(s) ask “So what do you know about the company?” you can refer to your notes, if your mind goes blank.  You can also compare what the executive tells you about the company and the information you uncovered in your research.  There may be information you didn’t get that is important to your decision to take a job, that isn’t available on their website or in the public domain (from your other sources).

You should also prepare the questions you have relating to the company or the role you’re applying for, before you go to the interview, with a clear and focused mind.  If you get the answers to them during the course of the interview, you can tick them off – or write the answers next to them – so you reduce the number you might ask later, when given the opportunity.

You will look far more professional if your answer to “Do you have any questions about the company or the job that you’d like answered?” is “Well I had prepared a number of questions, but you’ve covered all but these 3….What about…”

This will show you are organised, thorough and keen to join this company!

Second, you will almost always be asked “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”  So prepare this list before the interview so you don’t have to think about it under pressure.  Focus on the strengths that will reflect favourably on you for this role for example, if the job involves a lot of computer work or number crunching, a strength would be high attention to detail or accurate data entry skills.  NEVER claim a strength you don’t have!  They WILL find out!

And then make the list of your weaknesses too.  Here be honest but not reckless.  From the above example, if you don’t have good attention to detail or you have poor data entry skills, represent this as a dislike for detailed work and preferring big picture jobs or needing extra training on computer skills to get back up to speed.  Always try and put a positive perspective on your weaknesses so the company doesn’t strike you from the list, but is aware that you may lack a particular skill that they need to assist you with, to successfully do the job.

Personally I really don’t like doing accounting, so I call my dislike of accounting a weakness and let a potential employer know “I like to leave the accounting to the accountants”.  This identifies that you will need support in accounting work if it is required by the role – but not in a way as to knock you out of consideration.

Honest and positive attitudes will win more employers over at interview than dishonest and over-confident attitudes.

So to recap – when you’ve done your research, prepared all your notes and taken as much stress out of the situation as you can, you will be so much more relaxed and comfortable about the interview.  You shouldn’t have any areas where the interviewer can surprise you.  You’re ready to go to the interview!

Ron Browne

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